Mad Men Drink at Work

The LC and I have recently taken a fancy to the AMC show Mad Men. Set in the 1960s, Mad Men tells the story of an advertising agency and its employees on Madison Ave. in Manhattan. Historical, political and social references put the overall plot into context but its characters and the development of those characters is what really drives Mad Men.

I posted an article called Excellent Adventures several months ago about how I thought it would be sweet to travel back in time to a significant historical period and influence that period with the knowledge and technology of the 21st century (No, I did not consider the butterfly effect when I wrote the original post). After watching the first two seasons of Mad Men, it would please me greatly to throw on my veil of ignorance and just live the life of a businessman in the early 1960s. The life of these “mad men” is incredible. They show up to work in the morning hacking a dart hands free. They toss their coats at their secretaries without saying a word to them and walk into their offices where they immediately pour themselves a glass of whisky. They smoke some more before taking a few calls. They continue to drink throughout the day and then take a nap on the couch in their offices. When they wake up, they light another dart and pour another drink. They scribble some ideas down, pass the buck and call it a day. They go to their mistresses’ house and make passionate early 1960s style love. They go home to dinner waiting for them on the table and make the same passionate early 1960s style love to their hot wives. They shut it down with a clear conscience and repeat the process the next day.

Aside from the womanizing and gender and racial segregation, the early 60s seem like the best time ever! Too bad the hippies had to go and eff it all up! All I want in life is a bottle of whisky beside my desk that I can help myself to whenever I am stressed, need to think, achieve success, feel like procrastinating or someone comes to talk to me. Is this too much to ask for in this politically correct and hypersensitive world?